7/25/2016

This week was pretty hard I think. I've had such a hard time being diligent this transfer. It just builds up until I feel really terrible about not going out and working hard. It's hard though because I'm really passive and Sister Baker hates contacting/tracting. This transfer I'm going to work on being more intense about like insistent upon finding. It's my favorite part of missionary work. Sister Baker and I are STAYING TOGETHER FOR ANOTHER TRANSFER THOUGH!! I'm so excited! I really just want to stay with every companion for two transfers and one companion for three transfers. Also I want to stay in every area for 4 transfers and one for 4 transfers. That way I'll have 3 areas and 6 companions. I'm pretty sure that won't happen though.

I'm proud to announce that all the people in my apartment pulled together and bust out a PERFECT CLEANING CHECK SCORE! It was probably the cleanest I've ever been in my life. It was a true miracle for sure. I'm not sure how we pulled it off. Also I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I recently remembered that I'm an adult and nobody can tell me what to do anymore. Therefore I adopted some succulents. I think I mentioned it already because I remember not being able to spell succulent. Oh well. I'm sure y'all don't even read this that closely anyway. I'll send a picture of the succulents next week probably. They're adorable. I saved one from this moldy gross mason jar and Sister Baker almost died because she's really allergic to mold. Also If you wash a succulent's entire root ball away and then stick it in some dirt it just handles it. Way to be.

We weren't able to teach Carmen this week. She hasn't been feeling well. I think the heat upsets her arthritis. Also it's super hard to do missionary work when it's hot because I get so exhausted. Then I think about our Elders and also the Elders on foot in RSM and I have to feel less bad for myself.

We had zone training meeting. I though about my missionaries and cried. So like 5 times in a row that has happened. It was cool because they compared missionary work to a boat. The boat is our legacy as a missionary. We're all building a boat. It was pretty awesome.

I ate squid the other day and it actually wasn't awful, which is surprising because it's be awful every time I've tried it before. Am I a freak because I can put away an entire bowl of Pho? Cause nobody I've every eaten it with has been able to. I feel like a fat kid.

Speaking of being a fat kid there was a huge pioneer day celebration on Saturday. It was crazy because it was pretty big and usually events of that size cost money and stuff, but everything was free. All the stuff was provided by different auxiliaries of different wards in the stake. There was tones of food. I ate pie for pie-oneer day. Everybody was telling all their pioneer ancestor stories and I was like yeah well... my pioneer story is that I joined the church. It was a weird day. The Monsons' baby threw up for like 30 seconds consecutively. It was impressive.

WE GOT TO TEACH PRIMARY YESTERDAY AND IT WAS MY FAVORITE THING EVER!! I just want my lifelong calling to be teaching 10/11 year olds. We were talking about Captain Moroni and Sister Hervey got all the primary students to make a title of liberty. Then Sister Baker and I got everyone to write on the back something the spirit told them they could do to be more like Moroni. Most of the kids wrote something like "be a good person" or "truth" but one kid wrote "have more worthwhile prayers." I was like dude... same... Anyway primary was the best thing ever.

Oh yeah! Sister Baker and I are moving to Mission Viejo so we don't have to drive 15 minutes into our area.

funny quotes!

"AYE FILIPE ! It was tha Mormons!" -Some guy while tracting

"You could just be like excuse me sir I am FIFTEEN years old.... He would believe you." -Sister Baker

"I wish I had infinite time for family history... oh wait! The millennium!" -me

"You can hope for a better world and a place at the right hand of God." -Sister Baker

"Yeah that's why I really hope Donald Trump gets elected! It will be a better world!" -Sister Harris

"We are walking with a purpose!" -Sister Baker

"no one is going to kidnap us!" -me

"hey...." -Las Floras sisters from car

"practice asking them to remove distractions like the tv or a crying baby." -me

"Excuse me could you please turn that baby off?" -Me and Sister Baker

"I don't know why anyone needs coupons for kitty litter but it was in the mail so..." -Elder Radeke

*Elder Hook Laughing*

"Elder Hook is lauging because he knows." -me

"IT'S FUNNY CAUSE YOU'RE CATS!" -Elder Hook

"It was good. I thought about my missionaries and cried so it was successful." -me

"Yeah cause my whole intent has always been to make you cry Sister Atchley" -Elder White

"Deadlifting is awesome cause it's just using all the muscles in your body to pick up something really heavy. Even your jaw. It ads an extra like 20 pounds." -Elder White

"She's from Texas so she knows how to deep fry stuff." -Elder Center

"Horse" -Magu

We were teaching Sister Yokochi's jungle bird some vocabulary.

I tried to teach it to say my name but instead it said no. Rude.

"I wonder if Magu can say my name." -me

"HUMANS CAN'T EVEN SAY YOUR NAME!" -Sister Baker

"You'll learn one day Magu." -Me

"Yeah one day when you get married." -Pam

Apparently Elder Oler told Pam that I'm really good at art. I've never served around him though. How does he know? Apparently I'm kinda #famous.

"Parrots live to be like 100 surely it could learn to say my name in that amount of time." -me

"Instead it says actually" -Sister Baker

"OH GOSH YOU TOO PARROT!?" -Me

"Eat me Sister Atchley" -Sister Baker

"oh hey it's shoes! Good cause the sole just fell off mine." -Me

"that's inspired!" -Elder White

"Cute Shoes" -Elder White

"it smells really rank over here throw me that febreze." -me

"OH MAN! Now it smells like some cologne Santa probably wore when he was young and trying to pick up Mrs. Clause!" -me

"It smells like rank Christmas!" -Sister Baker

Reading assignment:

So yesterday it occurred to me that after Christ suffered for our sins his robes would have been stained red seeing that he bled from every pore. Do with that information what you will, but the reading assignment is D&C19.

Love Y'all!

This was titled Mormon 7:10 (I think she got the wrong verse since there is nothing about fish or birds in Mormon 7:10. I will check with her, -Dad)

Our perfect cleaning score.

Pioneer Day

When you try to make an ugly face and hope it turns out cute.

They are termite tenting our church so it is it is Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints Bouncy tent version. 

This bush

Still not working.

7/18/2016

So we were at this park contacting. Usually this park is not that full, but this particular day everyone and their mom was there staring into their phones. I'm talkin like the whole of Mission Viejo was out holding their phones up and cussing at Pikachu. Then a guy sprinted by, held up his phone, yelled YES, and sprinted away. That's how I learned that Pokémon Go came out this weekend. It's good because people who have never seen the light of day are now at the park, ripe for the contacting. Also bad because they're like zombies so contacting them is not super effective.

>Sister Missionaries Used Contact

>Teenager Didn't React

We saw this really emo kid on a ripstick cruising around the park. I'm talkin he was wearing black skinny pants and a misfits shirt with the sleeves cut out. He looked up from pokemon go for long enough that I could smile at him. His response was to roll basically his ENTIRE HEAD at me and change directions. #classic. There's a reason I met the missionaries when I did.

We don't have p-day activities at the moment because our zone is out of hand so my p-days have been super productive. For example I took the longest shower of my life last week. I've never been so clean. I was in there so long that the light turned off. If you came to this blog for quality spiritual experiences then you should probably just turn back now.

JUST KIDDING!! We taught Carmen again this week. We showed up and she was TOTALLY SOBER! She even had her hair done normally. We got in and sat down. Now, Carmen usually has like a 30 second attention span. We sat down and the first words out of her mouth were "Ok what's the plan for today?" We were floored. Then we discovered that she READ THE PAMPHLET!! She was so good. She answered all of our questions and understood everything. Then she committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. At the end she said the most sincere prayer I've ever heard and thanked Heavenly Father for sending us to "help [her] grow closer to Him than [she's] ever been before." Never doubt anyone's potential! Somebody might just go from atheist to baptized in ~25 days.

We had interviews with President Clark. He was nice. Sister Clark was AMAZING THOUGH! She is so cool. She is just like offputtingly sweet and super in tune with the spirit. She's my favorite. President Clark is really serious. He forgets to smile sometimes. He doesn't forget to smile at Sister Atchley though. No one forgets to smile at Sister Atchley. Even Elder Mueller. President requested that I thank everyone for their sacrifice in having me be out here on a mission. He also said to say that he and Sister Clark appreciate me. So there you go. President Clark is my favorite because he's like a tortoise. In like a good way. Sometimes I think when I say people are like turtles people take it negatively somehow.

There's some funny stuff from this week:

First of all, Alma14:29 is the most oddly specific simile that I have ever heard.

"I could just listen to you expound scriptures all day." -Hermana Smith

"Hey you've reached Elder Williams

And... Elder Oler.... eh..." -Their answering machine

(Elder Oler is from Canada.)

"Solitare [drugged me]!" -Sister Baker

"Why am I so clumsy around you guys!" -me

"It's cause we're clumsy and it's contagious." -Elder Center

Elder Center roped me... twice.... then he roped a rose bush and had a hard time getting his rope detached. He was going for the lizard. Elder Center says the most hilarious thing you can do is rope a cat's back feet because they get so confused.

I went 5 days this week without dropping or throwing anything at dinner which is a MAJOR accomplishment.

"Did somebody just say the f word followed by Pikachu?" -me

They did

"Could be way worse could be hotter or colder. Could be ugly cats and dogs." -Carmen

"I should put these muffins on the dash here where I can reach them while I'm driving." -Sister Baker

"Maybe you can catch them in your mouth when they fly in your face from accelerating too hard." -me

"Dang! Look at you! And the Holy Ghost! You guys should be companions." -Elder Center

"Oh gosh I'm gonna throw something!!" -me

"I have faith Sister Atchley!" -Elder Center

"Hi How's it going!?" -me

"THERE'S A PIKACHU ON THAT BENCH YO. DON'T WORRY I ALREADY GOT IT!" -A guy we contacted

" I think Elder Anthony thought it was flirting. Good thing I evenly flirted with the whole district" -me

"So... bulk flirting is ok?" -Sister Ward

"It's like Costco... bulk flirting." -Sister Wright

"I imagined going to catch this flyer but missing and punching her right in the face." -Sister Baker

"Let me tell you about my dream!!.... but first lets set goals." -me

"you suck!" -Sister Baker

"Why does he keep touching HER hips!? STOP BEING CREEPY SEAN!!" -Sister Baker working out to T25

"Stop putting stuff in my fridge!" -Bishop Bench

"I just want to be helpful!" -me

"You are already helpful Sister Atchley!" -Bishop

"ok I think I'm just really tired, but when Elder Mueller went to pray I thought he said Germanly Father." -Sister Baker

"ME TOO!!" -me

"The brain was thinking." -Opal

"Brain! What brain!?" -Agnes

"I AINT GOIN IN NO BUSH IN NO FIELD!" -Sister Baker

"When I moved to California I thought a succulent was the most INTERESTING tree." -Susie Southworth

"So I name dropped Agatha Christie and accidently made friends with her and she talked for like an hour. Then we shared a scripture and she went on about racism for ANOTHER HOUR." -me

"Accidently made friends... I wish I had that problem." -Elder Willcox

"hashtag team taco cat!" -Sister Baker constantly

This means something that I will not explain in this email. ;]

The reading assignment is: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1973/04/yellow-canaries-with-gray-on-their-wings?lang=eng

Love Y'all

So I made Planner covers for everyone in the district.

Elder Anthony

Elder Center

"I feel like Elder Dulig's favorite color is purple." -me

"Look Elder White!! It's purple!" -Elder Dulig

Elder Kieth

Elder Mueller

"I bet Elder White would just LOVE his name really big on here." -me

"Look!! It says WHITE really big on it!!" -Elder White

7/11/2016

We saw Carmen again this week. The first thing she told us was that she had mysteriously been drinking water for the last week and a half. (Since we visited her) It was super amazing because I've been praying every day for her to not have as strong of a desire to drink alcohol. Also she said we could come teach her about God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost. She always gets up in arms about people not mentioning all three because "They're all important and that's not right that we ignore the Holy Ghost." So anyway we picked up a new investigator.

One of our less actives has been mysteriously showing up to church lately. It's really cool because last time we met her she told us that it's impossible for her to feel the spirit and she was probably never going to come to church again. It's super exciting for us because obviously something has changed to allow her to have at least the desire to come unto Christ. Also her husband is somewhat interested in the church. We may be following up with that soon. It's really sad because each time she's been there we've sat with her so NO ONE COMES UP AND TALKS TO HER. Instead everyone comes up to us after she leaves and is like "So who was that lady you had at church today? Keep up the good work sisters!" If you think she's an investigator you should DEFINITELY go up and introduce yourselves. Y'all PLEASE introduce yourself to people that the missionaries bring to church. It's the right thing to do. #CTR

So our investigator, Pam Yokochi, got baptized on Saturday. She's pretty cool. She's the teacher one with the jungle bird, Magu, that took my leg off my second day in Mission Viejo. She was baptized at 8 and had her records removed at 18. That's not important though, what's important is that she was able to enter into the straight and narrow path. She made this decision suddenly and mysteriously after a comment made by her friend that was visiting from Texas. Basically we went over on Thursday and the presence of the missionaries prompted her friend to ask when she was planning on getting sealed to her husband. She said she couldn't because she had to be baptized first. Her friend asked her to get baptized while she was in town for the weekend. We got a call on Friday saying that Pam was getting baptized Saturday night. Pretty cool.

"Her white jumpsuit needs to be really tall because Pam is really tall." -Sister Baker

"No she isn't" -Elder Oler

"Yeah she is! She's like super tall!"-Me

"NO JUST EVERYONE IS TALL COMPARED TO YOU TWO!!" -Elder Oler

​

I guess what I'm getting at here is that a lot of "mysterious" things have happened to us this week. Rather, a lot of things that would be mysterious if we didn't understand Heavenly Father's plan for his children and somewhat of the way he works amongst the children of men have happened to us this week. It reminds me of the words of Amulek soon after he learns of the gospel:
Alma 10:5 Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people.

Also this:

Alma 12:

    9 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
   10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.

So basically if we soften our hearts and study diligently because we WANT to study not because it is required, we will become better at recognizing Heavenly Father's plan for us. This will happen until we know everything.

Hope I explained that well enough.
"neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking"

I learned something else cool today!
Alma29:
   1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

Alma is lamenting not being able to convert people as well as an angel. I always thought this was super random, but actually it's not because ALMA WAS CONVERTED BY AN ANGEL. It suddenly made sense to me and I totally understand where Alma is coming from because you have no Idea how many times I have written/thought/said "I just want to be like Whatcott." #BLW It says that in my PMG somewhere. Alma just want's to be like his missionaries too.

Y'all's reading assignment is Alma 12. If you've received your endowments, consider the temple as you're reading. If you have not, learn about the plan of salvation anyway because it's good.

Quotes:

"Are you sure these colors aren't girly?' -me

"Hey, it's Elder White so if it's girly he'll probably like it better." -Sister Baker

"I thought that was gonna be way cooler, but it was actually really lame." -Elder Center

"Hey sister Baker, what's up?" -Elder Dayton

"Nothin much just---" -Sister Baker

"OH HEY SISTER ATCHLEY!!!" -Elder Dayton

"How much did I eat." -Opal

"I wasn't paying to mind to you I was eatin myself..... well not literally eating myself but you get the idea...." -Agnes

"Hi we're tropical birds from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." -me

"My name is Magu." -Sister Baker

"That kid is coming over here." -Sister Baker

"Wanna get in the car?" -me

"SISTER ATCHLEY!" -Sister Baker

*prays for safety* "HOORAY NOW WE WON'T GET SHOT!" -me

"you mean Satan's guitar solo in heaven?" -us every day

"Putting laser in front of something makes it sound way cooler. Look, laser dentistry." -me

"need new teeth? PTCHOO lasers!" -Sister Baker

"Need new eyes? PTCHOO lasers!" -Me

"hairy legs? PTCHOO lasers!" -Sister Baker

"Bladder doesn't work right? PTCHOO lasers!" -Me

"my nose is bleeding." -Sister Baker

"maybe you need lasers." -Me

"I feel like the first time we met you straight judged me." -me

"I'm not used to looking down on people" -Elder Oler

"Sister Atchley look! I've been wearing a brown belt...... with black shoes...." -Elder Dayton

"All day?"-me

"Yeah...." -Elder Dayton

"how dare." -me

"I like these pictures because Jesus is straight cheesin it, which is kind of unusual." -Me

"Anyway he's obviously in our district because he has something to learn from us." -Me

"He better learn it fast before I learn it for him upside his head." -Sister Baker

Love Y'all!

7/5/2016

This week was pretty amazing. We me the most hilarious person we've ever met in our entire lives. The Spanish sisters gave us this referral, because they contacted into a lady who wanted the Book of Mormon but they didn't have an English one. Her name is Carmen and I can't tell you most of what happened because it's not suitable for a missionary email. Suffice to say within the first two minutes of being there this lady was like "Woops better hide my paraphernalia!" and chucked her pipe under a book. We're picking her up as an investigator this week because she was "stoked" to receive the Book of Mormon and the atonement is real and for everyone. Also every time I read scriptures about how the gospel is for everyone I think of her so I'm thinking we should probably teach her. Her cat is named precious darling baby.  I have tons of quotes from her to follow.

There's this less active that the sisters had been trying to contact forever before I got into the ward. Apparently our Bishop told them to ask about her horses. So we were like "Hey Sister Sinclair we heard you had a pretty cool horse." She texted back IMMEDIATLY and set up a time for us to go and meet her (and the horse). So this week I learned that I'm kinda nervous around horses. Jk I'm super scared of horses. This means Elder Center and I can never be real friends.

The real important thing I learned from this is that everyone will talk to you if you want to talk about something they're passionate about.

Sister Baker and I are getting along super well. We're like best friends. We have trouble doing missionary work though. We sometimes get really distracted by the hilarious and/or insightful conversations we're having. Our weekly goal this week is getting out of the car as soon as we park. That will make us do way more missionary work I think. I have a testimony of weekly goals. They work so well. One time my weekly goal was to recognize the spirit more and I spent the entire week hyper focused on recognizing the spirit. Now I'm better at recognizing the spirit. Y'all should set a weekly goal this week. When I get home I'm going to set one to only eat actual portion sizes for a week. That's impossible on the mission though. I think I'm getting super fat in Mission Viejo because we eat a lot. (Thanks members)

I ALMOST FORGOT TO WRITE ABOUT PRESIDENT CLARK! He's awesome. The spirit told me that I was going to really love President Clark like way before we met him. The we met him and he's actually amazing. He got up to talk to us, quoted like 5 scriptures based on the hymn we just sang, and then pulled out this gnarly set of scriptures. The gold leafing is basically gone. Then he told like three stories about hanging out with apostles while he was an area 70. He's also taller than President Orgill somehow. President Orgill is already gigantic. President Clark is probably 6'4" or something. I get an interview with him sometime within the next two weeks. Sister Clark is really nice too.

"Wow! You have the most beautiful smile I've ever seen! Seriously! It lights up this whole room!" -Sister Clark being genuinely taken aback 

So it was fast Sunday in July. Every companionship I asked said they had a member in their ward bear their testimony on freedom and America. I think that's so obnoxious when it happens. I wonder if members in Mexico do the same thing. Probably not. Anyway that's straight up culture not doctrine. There was a temple music night devotional. A recent convert bore her testimony on Mitt Romney and freedom and the republican platform. It was so uncomfortable. Sister Baker was super dope at playing the piano though.

Yesterday was kind of a weird day because our p-day activity was at 7:00 pm. So our p-day was super long. So like y'all may know, but I NEVER participate in p-day activity. Shocker, I know. So we roll in to p-day and I'm already stressed out because I just got this hugely uncomfortable feeling at dinner for some reason. So like anyway the zone leaders are like Sister Atchley come participate in this p-day activity and I was like what the heck might as well. #zoneunity and then the PRANKED ME! I've never felt so betrayed in my life. I was like so incredibly upset that I left p-day activity crying. Not because I was pranked but because after they embarrassed me no one involved would do anything to help me be less uncomfortable. So anyway it was really stupid, but I learned a lot about the difference between worldly sorrow and Godly sorrow. Also Sister Baker and I developed way more comp unity. It was really cool.

Anyway here's the part of the letter y'all care about:

We locked our keys in the trunk this week and the Assistants had to drive down from Irvine and pop our trunk. Thanks Assistants, you're the real MVPs. Also when we called our vehicle coordinator he was like "yeah happens all the time." Of course it does. #Mormons

"We have dinner with Hulk Hogan on Monday then on Tuesday we're eating with Thomas S Monson." -Sister Baker

"Hey! It's [that] Mission Viejo Second sisters..." -me

"SISTER ATCHLEY WHY ARE YOU SO RATCHET!!" -Sister Baker

I said "the mv2 sisters" but she misunderstood and laughed for like 2349857years. We were leaving the Assistants a voicemail. It was hilarious

"We went to contact a referral and one person was Chinese and the other was Korean." -Sister Sakuri (the Japanese sister)

"I don't like Kid Rock's lyrics but musically and vocally he's a genius!" -Carmen

"My own personal wizard, Merlin." -Carmen

"I'm so tired of people making a mockery of the English language!" -Carmen in response to me saying cool

"Palmy and Palmetta because one's a boy and one's a girl." -Carmen on her palm trees

"So I was like 'do you worship satan?' and she was like 'as a matter of fact I do' which is weird cause I like her anyway." -Carmen

"I tried to worship satan but I couldn't even do that right!" -Carmen

"I'm biologically a human, astrologically I'm a lioness so I'm a cat, and I'm a daughter of God D-O-G so I'm a dog." -Carmen

"President Clark sounds so nice. Imagine a teddy bear man." -Elder White

"I don't know if I want to get transferred because I like this area and I.... love...... you.... anyway I just don't want a terrible companion!!" -Sister Baker

"THERE ARE WHALES IN MY REVELATION!!" -Sister Wright

"The clown reflects the testimony!!" -Sister Baker

"Elder Center have you every been at a dinner where I DIDN'T throw something?" -me

"Nope, no way!" -Elder Center

"You threw something really weird one time what was it?" -Elder Center

"Nobody ever compliments the pianist." -Sister Baker

"Nice piano playing" -like 50 people

"I used to have a Buddha charm that was blessed by Buddhist monks. I rubbed it before tests." -Elder Gee

"Did it work because I'm pretty sure that's idol worship." -me

"NO! Ok I just have a lot of problems that I have to fix before I get to the point where I can worry about my Buddha charm!" -Elder Gee

*picks up fork and immediately drops it* -me

"I don't know why you're surprised." -Elder Center

"Sister Atchley will you sprint across that field so I can rope you?" -Elder Center

"No" -me

"Come oooooon." -Elder Center

"Mostly because you said sprint and for like no other reason." -me

"Sister Atchley will you... walk... across that field...." -Edler Center

I can't remember if I've assigned these as a reading assignment before, but they're my favorite so here they are again:

Read The Law of Increasing Returns

Also read Alma 5 in Elder Holland's voice and learn like 5 things you need to repent of. It works every time.

Love Y'all!

This is secretly what Mormons look like

Officially the shortest in the mission

I have no idea why I am terrified of horses

6/27/2016

Thank you whoever sent me the anonymous California flag shirt! My district leader tried to throw it at me and instead hit one of the assistants right in the face. It was good.

Wanna know some pretty exciting news that I've neglect to share with y'all for a long time?

We're getting a new mission president on Wednesday. You'd think I would have informed you about this sooner. I'm kind of really excited, but I'm like the only one. I was just hanging out in the passenger seat of our car and I felt the spirit tell me to get pumped for President Clark. I think he's going to be a lot more serious business than President Orgill, which is good. President Orgill is my favorite person though, so I don't know how to feel about that. Anyway President Clark will interview me within the next two weeks and we'll have zone conferences this week. I'll tell you what he's like next week probably.

He's probably going to tell us to ride bikes.

#MountainsToClimb

Speaking of riding bikes: There are 24 Elders coming in next transfer so they told all the Elders to be prepared to be fulltime bike. It's real awkward because the Elders coming in are fixin to start being younger than Matthew.

We had a couple cool experiences this week. We met a lady named Helen.

It was like 3049586734 degrees outside and we were so done being outdoors when we met her. It was awesome because as we were waking away she was reading the Book of Mormon. She told us part of her story. She said she was healed by a faith healer and her faith in Christ was so strong that she lost all her strength to move. I gave her Alma 36 to read. We went back to visit her and she told us that the Book of Mormon was different because it was more like making things that are taught in the Bible clear and explaining them more fully. We were like #true. We're hoping she'll come to church this weekend.

I've been dealing a lot lately with being afraid to do everything that used to be really easy for me. For example contacting. It's been the most frustrating thing ever. I was even afraid to give a training. Giving trainings is literally my favorite part of missionary work. I don't know what's going on. So anyway I was praying about it and I remembered that fear is the opposite of faith. So I decided to pray to know. When you pray to know Heavenly Father will give you a witness that the gospel is true. No matter how many times you do it. Also when you're clear and direct in your prayers Heavenly Father answers them quickly.

Some quotes:

We decided that I'm going to be dishonorably released from my mission because I'm going to get a really obnoxious mullet right before zone conference. So there's nothing I can do except rock the mullet or shave my head, both of which are against the white handbook. So President Clark will have no choice but to send me home for being disobedient.

"We can ask Mary what to do. She'll probably tell us to get district mullets." -Me

The Elders made this really artistic cow out of a broken chair, ducktape, a stick, and some teddy bear eyes so they could practice roping it on pday. I'm actually impressed.

"Wherefore the course of the Lord and McDonald's chicken nuggets are one eternal round." -Me

"Please send the elect to Jack in the Box" -Me

"Do I look like I've been sweating all day?" -me

"Me too." -Sister Baker

"You can spot basher from like 50 yards away" -Elder Center

"sometimes I can't always tell." -Me

"You can always tell if someone's a basher by their car." -Elder White

"If their bumpersticker says Compass Bible you know they're gonna bash" -The whole district

"You also have really great superficial qualities like amazing eyebrows." -Sister Wimmer

"I felt like I was in an institute class and you were my funny but knowledgeable teacher" -Sister Wimmer

The Elders gave us a pitcher of watermelon it was hilarious. 

Reading assignment is Alma 3. Look for when Mormon takes the opportunity to teach us gospel principles.